noun
Refers to wild geese, especially migratory species such as the greater white-fronted goose. Often appears in seasonal contexts and literature.
秋になると、雁が北から渡ってくる。
In autumn, wild geese migrate from the north.
空に雁の群れがV字になって飛んでいた。
A flock of wild geese was flying in a V-formation in the sky.
The kanji 雁 is a picto-phonetic character combining 厂 (cliff) and 隹 (bird) with 人 (person), suggesting a bird that flies in formation like people lining up. The reading がん is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi.